WASHINGTON  An outpouring of opposition and a campaign cycle on fast-forward overcame a powerful alliance of key Democratic and Republican leaders, as a sweeping immigration bill collapsed Thursday in the Senate.

A move to limit the immigration debate and bring the bill to a final vote failed 46-53. The vote halts one of President Bush's top domestic priorities and leaves unresolved the fate of an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants now living in what Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., called "a system of victimization."

The bill's defeat came despite an enormous investment of time and political capital by senior Democrats and Republicans.

Opponents claimed a populist victory over what Roy Beck of NumbersUSA called "the cheap-labor lobby." Beck said his organization, which focuses on immigration-related issues, generated more than two million faxes against the immigration bill since May. Hours before the Senate vote, the Capitol switchboard was swamped with phone calls.

"The intensity level and the passions on this bill, we've never seen anything like it. Not even close," said Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., who voted against the bill despite a call from Bush.

Ensign also chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Eleven senators {ndash} four Democrats and seven Republicans {ndash} who voted in favor of last year's Senate immigration bill, which died in the House, voted against this year's version. All of them are up for re-election in 2008.

Among them was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. In a Senate speech earlier this month, McConnell said, "I am in favor of trying to pass an immigration bill." On Thursday, after voting against it, he said he was responding to an outcry from Republicans, including those in his home state.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said politics played a role in the bill's defeat: "Some of it was pressure."

Opposition was bipartisan, running the gamut from the AFL-CIO to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps., a citizen border patrol group.

The chances of Congress reconsidering immigration legislation before Bush leaves office appear minimal. Lawmakers have begun to talk about introducing pieces of the legislation as separate measures. Asked whether he was giving up on a comprehensive immigration bill, a weary Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said: "I'll think about that tomorrow."

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who chairs the House subcommittee on immigration, was more definitive: "This effectively kills immigration reform in the 110th Congress."

The bill would have beefed up border security, expanded opportunities for foreigners to take temporary jobs in the USA and made job qualifications a factor in selecting immigrants. It also would have put about 12 million illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

At a press conference following the bill's defeat, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department will continue raids on employers suspected of hiring illegal immigrants. "You will continue to see heart-wrenching examples of families being pulled apart," he said. "In order to regain credibility with the American people, we're going to have to be tough."

Graham predicted that Congress' failure to address immigration will lead to a patchwork of state and municipal ordinances as local governments attempt to fill the void. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 1,169 immigration measures were introduced in 50 state legislatures as of April.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said attitudes appear to have changed since he "felt so welcome" arriving in the USA as a Cuban refugee. "I hope that the day will return," he said, "when we will once again think about immigration not as something to tolerate but as something to be proud of."

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